Is Our Coffee Culture Damaging Our Health?

GUEST POST: With news this week that coffee shops are set to outstrip pubs, should we be worried? I think so.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hankering after those days of beer sodden carpets, sticky tables laden with glasses and air thick with tobacco smoke! That wasn’t an atmosphere conducive to a long and healthy life!

Now, many pubs paint a different picture. Smoke-free, family-friendly and more of an emphasis on home-cooked food than pickled eggs and pork scratchings. They are more of a social hub than a drinking den … and with recent government guidelines saying there is no safe limit to alcohol consumption, it’s good that the focus is less on the booze than on a meal with friends. Of course, we can’t get complacent. Wine and beer are getting stronger, containing a higher percentage of alcohol than they used to. And wine-glasses are more likely to be bucket-sized than the small glasses we used 20 years ago. So, we can end up drinking more than we should, if we don’t watch out.

But in my opinion you need to walk into a coffee shop with your eyes open too.  In my 15 years as a weight loss surgeon I saw people come through the door miserable with their weight and battling with life-threatening health conditions but carrying a syrup laden latte which they have just picked up from the coffee outlet within our very hospital  (don’t even get me started on that one).

The specialty coffees, laden with sugar-syrups and topped with whipped cream can contain a quarter of our recommended calorie intake which won’t help the nations bulging waistline. And almost invariably, the barista will try to tempt you with a muffin or other super-sized snack to go with it …. adding several hundred calories more. Portion control doesn’t seem to be a priority in these places and yet it only takes a couple of hundred extra calories a day to add up to several pounds more on the scales at the end of a year. And the sugar content of many of these various hot drinks and cakes exceeds the daily recommendations of 6 teaspoons or 24g of added sugar per day. We now know that sugar provides calories without nutrients and is increasingly recognised as contributing to health problems from type 2 diabetes to tooth decay.

What about the caffeine? Well, actually, several studies show that caffeine can be good for us. It can increase mental alertness, improve sports performance and may even help protect us against diseases like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver. But in excess of course, it can increase anxiety and tremors. Plus, it can reduce sleep if taken after lunch – and we are struggling to reach the recommended 7-8 hours anyway.

The maximum caffeine intake we should have is around 400mg per day and just one super-size coffee can pretty much hit that max.

Feature courtesy of Dr Sally Norton.  NHS Weight Loss Consultant Surgeon.  Health Expert & Writer.  www.vavistalife.com